High School category, Page 371
Led by NAHL-bound Max Rutkowski, Franklin Regional hockey turns things around
After beginning the season 1-4, the Franklin Regional hockey team has turned things around. The Panthers have won three consecutive games and are playing their best hockey of the season, according to coach John Winebrenner. “We made a bunch of lineup adjustments, and the team is playing with confidence,” he...
Aquinas Academy girls hungry to take next step
Playing at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center each of the past two seasons was a dream come true for the Aquinas Academy girls basketball team. Now they just want the dream to have a better ending. The Crusaders return their top four scorers from last season’s team, which lost at the...
Aquinas Academy boys basketball braces for ‘life without Vinnie’
The Aquinas Academy boys basketball team spent more time this offseason in the weight room than ever before. They were getting ready for some heavy lifting. Vinnie Cugini, who scored 3,189 career points to shatter a 30-year-old WPIAL mark, has graduated, leaving behind a nearly 44-point-per-game hole in the Crusaders’...
Shady Side Academy boys look to overcome injuries to key players
The Shady Side Academy boys basketball program will do a lot of on-the-job training this season. Two setbacks to the Bulldogs’ lineup have Shady Side Academy running low on big men. Senior Nate Mallory had knee surgery and will be out for the year. Junior Ben Michaels has a hip...
Defending WPIAL champ highlights talented lineup for Pine-Richland wrestling
Vaughn Spencer went undefeated through the first 28 matches of his varsity career until an injury derailed his shot at his first state title last year. Spencer, a junior, still won a WPIAL title and leads a formidable group of Pine-Richland wrestlers. Bouncing back from injury is nothing new for...
After strong WPIAL performance, expectations remain high for Plum girls swimmers
Last year’s WPIAL Class 3A championship meet was one to remember for the Plum girls swim team. The Mustangs earned five medals — two in individual events and in all three relays — and placed 10th in a deep team standings. While seven seniors were lost to graduation from the...
Megan Marston’s hot hand helps Plum girls start 3-0
Megan Marston got off to a hot start for the Plum girls basketball team. The senior guard had a pair of 22-point efforts in wins over Freeport and Highlands at the Freeport tip-off tournament the weekend of Dec. 1. Marston then hit for 31 in helping the Mustangs (3-0) roll...
With good roster numbers, new girls team, Norwin wrestlers ready to put in work
Life rewards hard. It’s a refrain Norwin wrestling coach Kyle Martin refers to often. The labor intensive nature of the sport comes with its benefits. “Wrestling is hard,” Martin said. “Every parent should want their child to wrestle.” At Norwin, a lot of them do. The Knights are in a...
Norwin notebook: Girls basketball team starts on right foot
The Norwin girls basketball team opened the season with a victory, which could be one of many for the Lady Knights. Bella Furno had 15 points, Ava Christopher added 12, and Lauren Palangio and Kendall Berger chipped in 10 apiece in a 66-27 win over Cameron (W.Va.) at the Wheeling...
North Allegheny notebook: Tigers cross country takes 5th at nationals
North Allegheny’s girls cross country team capped off its season with a fifth-place finish at the Nike Cross Nationals on Dec. 2, in Portland, Ore. Wren Kucler led the way for the state champion Tigers, placing 38th with a time of 18 minutes, 29.7 seconds. Robin Kucler (18:40) and Eva...
North Allegheny embraces ‘who we are’ entering state championship clash with St. Joseph’s Prep
The team North Allegheny thought most about this week, the roster of players the Tigers maybe focused on more than any other, was North Allegheny. Yes, they studied film and game planned extensively to face St. Joseph’s Prep in the state finals Saturday in Mechanicsburg. But North Allegheny coach Art...
First official season for girls wrestling in Pennsylvania getting started
The date May 17, 2023, will not soon be forgotten by those who follow and have an affinity for girls wrestling locally and throughout Pennsylvania. That day, the PIAA officially sanctioned the sport, making good on its promise that if schools in the state came through and 100 or more...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Dec. 8, 2023
High schools Basketball Boys Friday’s results Jack Twyman Tournament At Central Catholic Gateway 57, Penn Hills 51 Moon 56, Central Catholic 41 Mike Rettger Memorial Tournament At Franklin Regional Seneca Valley 62, Laurel Highlands 54 Franklin Regional 71, West Mifflin 44 Nonsection Ambridge 95, Ellwood City 82 Avella 57, Bentworth...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Dec. 9, 2023: Boys basketball showcases to tip off
Saturday is a big day for boys high school basketball fans in the Westmoreland County area with the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Showcase. The event is so big, games will be taking place at two sites. The schedule for games at Hempfield: • Yough (3-0) vs. Monessen (1-0) at noon...
Upper St. Clair girls work for gritty win over Shaler
Upper St. Clair started the week with a tough loss against defending WPIAL Class 5A champion South Fayette but ended the week with back-to-back wins on consecutive nights. A day after defeating Thomas Jefferson, USC went toe to toe with Shaler before edging the Titans in a nonsection contest, 45-37....
Montour boys get past Upper St. Clair on Jake Wolfe putback at buzzer
There was plenty of size on the floor Friday when a pair of preseason Top 5 teams collided and earned their early reps as contenders. However, when the biggest rebound of the game was up for grabs, it was a 6-foot-1 guard who was disguised as the big bad Wolfe...
High school roundup for Dec. 8, 2023: Baldwin outlasts Fox Chapel in 4 overtimes
Nate Wesling scored nine of his 29 points in the fourth and final overtime as Baldwin outlasted Fox Chapel, 67-56, in a nonsection boys basketball marathon Friday night. Wesling had 12 points at the end of regulation. Nate Richards added 14 points for the Highlanders (3-1). Fox Chapel’s Asher White...
Deer Lakes clamps down on Yough in battle of top teams in Class 3A
Yough expects to see zone defenses this season. Deer Lakes sure knows how to run them. Using its trademark 1-3-1 zone, the defending WPIAL champion and fourth-ranked Lancers silenced No. 3 Yough, 53-32, in a matchup of Class 3A top-five boys basketball teams Friday night at Yough. “We have been...
Shady Side Academy girls basketball coach Jonna Burke no longer facing suspension after judge’s ruling
After a judge’s ruling Thursday, Shady Side Academy girls basketball coach Jonna Burke is no longer facing a one-year suspension for contacting a junior high player’s parents via social media. U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Reed Eddy issued a permanent injuction Thursday that said Burke “is restored to her full coaching...
Southern Columbia’s 99-yard drive dashes Westinghouse’s state championship hopes
MECHANICSBURG — It was heartache again for the ‘House. Southern Columbia marched 99 yards late in the fourth quarter and scored a winning touchdown with 42 seconds left Friday to dash Westinghouse’s hopes of winning a state championship for the second year in a row. Carter Madden finished off Southern...
Imhotep Charter too much for Peters Township in Class 5A state championship game
MECHANICSBURG — Peters Township’s defense had to tackle a running back headed to Georgia, a sophomore back with SEC offers and a freshman wideout already courted by Pitt and Penn State. Yet, it was the quarterback committed to Army who scored three times in the first half Friday night as...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Dec. 7, 2023
High schools Basketball Boys Thursday’s results Nonsection Albert Gallatin 66, Ringgold 56 Aquinas Academy 76, Leechburg 47 Armstrong 49, Obama Academy 39 Beaver County Christian 46, Propel Andrew Street 44 Butler 74, Kiski Area 65 Cheswick Christian Academy 54, Geibel 39 Cornell 51, Perry Traditional Academy 38 Derry 66, Connellsville...
High school roundup for Dec. 7, 2023: Neshannock girls rally past Freedom
Payton Newman and Sophia Bonner scored 14 points apiece to lead Neshannock to a 54-47 victory over Freedom in nonsection girls basketball Thursday night. Kaitlyn Fries added 11 for the Lancers (3-1), who rallied from a three-point deficit by outscoring the Bulldogs 20-10 in the fourth quarter. Shaye Bailey led...
Penn-Trafford girls roll over Hempfield
Baseline to baseline, Penn-Trafford found a winning mix. Hassling team defense created mistakes and sound movement on the offensive end produced assists as the girls basketball team rolled past Hempfield, 66-41, in their nonsection home opener Thursday night. “A lot of people were creating for us tonight,” said Penn-Trafford sophomore...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Dec. 8, 2023: Pair of boys basketball tournaments set to tip off
While the 2023-2024 high school basketball season began last Friday with various tipoff tournaments, things have settled into nonsection contests throughout the week. However, two local and two statewide boys basketball tournaments begin Friday. Central Catholic will host the two-day Jack Twyman Tournament that features two defending champions and a...
